Stocks skidded Tuesday as disappointing sales from McDonald's offset an earnings beat from FedEx. Gains in the dollar also weighed on the market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down nearly 100 points at the halfway point.
President Obama unveiled his latest plans to stimulate the economyand create jobs, including new tax cuts for small businesses and measures to support renewable-energy manufacturing.
This came after banking analyst Meredith Whitney, who said on CNBC that the government is running out of ways to help the economy.
"I think they're out of bullets,"Whitney said.
One of her biggest concerns is a lack of credit access for consumers, who are "getting kicked out of the financial system."
The dollar edged higher against major currencies after Fitch downgraded Greece's credit rating. The U.S. currency held its ground even after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday gave strong indications that the central bank would not be raising rates and defending the US currency anytime soon.
Oil fell below $73 a barrel, while gold dropped below $1,155 an ounce.
McDonald'swas the biggest drag on the Dow after the fast-food giantsaid same-store sales fell 0.6 percentin November, the second straight monthly decline.
And 3M, which makes everything from Post-It notes to Scotch tape, issued a forecast that missed expectations.
That offset an encouraging report after the bell Monday: FedEx delivered earnings that handily beat its previous forecast.
Texas Instruments will release its mid-quarter update at about 5 pm.
Elsewhere, ExxonMobil, and its partners have given final approval to a $15 billion liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea, expected to start delivering gas to Asian customers in 2014.
